Simple actions influence pop-out search

Recent research has revealed that a simple action (pressing a computer key) produced in response to a visual object prioritizes features of that object in subsequent visual search. The effects of simple action, however, have only been studied with search displays that required serial search. Here we explored whether simple actions have an effect when the target in visual search is always a salient singleton. Participants viewed a coloured shape at the beginning of each trial, and sometimes they acted (pressed the space bar) in response to it. In the subsequent search task, after acting (but not after viewing), the previously-seen colour affected search performance even though the target was always a salient singleton and the colour was uninformative. The results reveal that prior action can interact with bottom-up salience during search. Implications for our understanding of both visual search and repetition priming are discussed.     

社会心理学中的启动研究:范式与挑战

启动效应被严格界定为先前刺激对后续无关情境中的行为反应产生的无意识影响,而且启动对象应是某种认知表征或思维过程。启动研究最早源于认知心理学领域,后被用于社会心理学研究中,并逐渐发展出概念启动、心理定势启动和序列启动三大启动范式及诸多新技术。已有研究存在启动术语混淆和实验者效应等内外部效度问题,其中最大的争议为启动研究结果的可重复性问题。未来研究应致力于解决这些问题,并探讨启动的作用机制。     

Retrieval of bindings between task-irrelevant stimuli and responses can facilitate behaviour under conditions of high response certainty

Repetition priming can be driven by the encoding and retrieval of stimulus–response (S–R) bindings. When a previously encoded S–R binding is retrieved, and is congruent with the response currently required, it can bias response-selection processes towards selecting the retrieved response, resulting in facilitation. Previous studies have used classification tasks at retrieval. Here, two (or more) response options are competing, and it is likely that any evidence (e.g., an S–R binding) in favour of one option will be utilized to effect a decision. Thus, S–R effects are likely to be seen when using such a task. It is unclear whether such effects can be seen under conditions of higher response certainty, when participants are explicitly cued to make a response. Across two experiments, evidence for a modulating influence of S–R bindings is seen despite using a response cueing method at retrieval to minimize response uncertainty and despite stimuli being task irrelevant. Finally, the results suggest that responses within these S–R bindings are coded at the level of left versus right hand, and not a more fine-grained within-hand thumb versus index finger. The results underline the resilience of S–R effects, suggesting that they are present even under conditions where no explicit object-oriented decision is required.     

PHONOLOGY IN THE LEXICAL PROCESSING OF CHINESE: PRIMING TONE NEIGHBOURS

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Effects of violent movies and trait hostility on hostile feelings and aggressive thoughts

The General Affective Aggression Model [Anderson CA, Deuser WE, DeNeve KM (1995): Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 21:434–448; Anderson CA, Anderson KB, Deuser WE (1996): Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 22:366–376] suggests that violent movies may increase aggression by increasing hostile feelings and the accessibility of aggressive thoughts. It also suggests that trait hostility may similarly influence affect and cognition. Experiment 1 explored the effects of viewing violent movie clips on affect and cognition. Participants who viewed a violent movie clip later reported higher levels of state hostility than did those who viewed a nonviolent clip. Experiment 2 added trait hostility to the design as a potentially important individual difference variable. The state hostility results of Experiment 1 were replicated. In addition, the relative accessibility of aggressive thoughts was increased by the violent clip, but only for low irritable participants. Discussion focused on the relevance to aggressive behavior. Aggr. Behav. 23:161–178, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The masked onset priming effect in picture naming

Reading aloud is faster when targets (e.g., PAIR) are preceded by visually masked primes sharing just the onset (e.g., pole) compared to all different primes (e.g., take). This effect is known as the masked onset priming effect (MOPE). One crucial feature of this effect is its presumed non-lexical basis. This aspect of the MOPE is tested in the current study. Dutch participants named pictures having bisyllabic names, which were preceded by visually masked primes. Picture naming was facilitated by first-segment but not last-segment primes, and by first-syllable as well as last-syllable primes. Whole-word primes with first or last segment overlap slowed down picture naming latencies significantly. The first-segment priming effect (i.e., MOPE) cannot be accounted for by non-lexical response competition since pictures cannot be named via the non-lexical route. Instead, the effects obtained in this study can be accommodated by a speech-planning account of the MOPE.     

Spoken-word processing in aphasia: effects of item overlap and item repetition

Two studies were carried out to investigate the effects of presentation of primes showing partial (word-initial) or full overlap on processing of spoken target words. The first study investigated whether time compression would interfere with lexical processing so as to elicit aphasic-like performance in non-brain-damaged subjects. The second study was designed to compare effects of item overlap and item repetition in aphasic patients of different diagnostic types. Time compression did not interfere with lexical deactivation for the non-brain-damaged subjects. Furthermore, all aphasic patients showed immediate inhibition of co-activated candidates. These combined results show that deactivation is a fast process. Repetition effects, however, seem to arise only at the longer term in aphasic patients. Importantly, poor performance on diagnostic verbal STM tasks was shown to be related to lexical decision performance in both overlap and repetition conditions, which suggests a common underlying deficit.     

The Time Course of Verb Processing in Dutch Sentences

The verb has traditionally been characterized as the central element in a sentence. Nevertheless, the exact role of the verb during the actual ongoing comprehension of a sentence as it unfolds in time remains largely unknown. This paper reports the results of two Cross-Modal Lexical Priming (CMLP) experiments detailing the pattern of verb priming during on-line processing of Dutch sentences. Results are contrasted with data from a third CMLP experiment on priming of nouns in similar sentences. It is demonstrated that the meaning of a matrix verb remains active throughout the entire matrix clause, while this is not the case for the meaning of a subject head noun. Activation of the meaning of the verb only dissipates upon encountering a clear signal as to the start of a new clause.     

情绪体验影响估算策略运用的认知与脑机制

揭示情绪体验影响个体完成各种认知任务的认知神经机制是研究者关注的热点问题。以往研究主要采用问卷法和行为实验, 集中考察了焦虑对估算策略运用的影响, 但这种影响潜在的脑机制尚不清楚, 对焦虑以外的情绪体验与估算策略运用之间关系的研究也极其缺乏, 而情绪调节对估算策略运用影响方面的研究基本处于空白。本研究将采用面孔表情图片作为情绪刺激材料, 结合事件相关电位(event related potential, ERP)技术, 采用启动范式, 尝试从外显和内隐两个角度, 考察不同效价的情绪体验在估算策略运用过程中所起的作用, 进而揭示情绪调节影响估算策略执行的时间动态特征和大脑激活模式。这将有助于充分认识情绪体验影响估算策略运用的认知与脑机制, 为更好的优化估算策略运用效果提供实证依据。